Reciprocating appliance drive apparatus

ABSTRACT

A surface treatment appliance includes moveable members that are driven by a slide crank mechanism. The moveable members, which are driven in linearly reciprocating motion, are attached to guide members such that there is relative movement between the guide members and a stationary support member that is part of an appliance head.

FIELD

The invention relates generally to surface treatment appliance, more particularly to a reciprocating appliance drive apparatus that is used in a surface treatment appliance.

DISCUSSION OF THE RELATED ART

Surface treatment appliances are used in the home and office to clean and treat floors. Various types of surface treating appliances are known, including reciprocating cleaning appliances, which use individual cleaning pads that are attached to the cleaning head of the appliance.

SUMMARY

According to one embodiment, a surface treatment apparatus includes an appliance head that includes a support member. The surface treatment apparatus also includes first and second moveable members that move relative to the support member. The surface treatment apparatus also includes a sliding member attached to the support member and a guide member attached to the first moveable member. The guide member is fixed to the first moveable member and moveable relative to the sliding member. A drive apparatus, including a motor, is constructed and arranged to drive the first and second moveable members in a linearly reciprocating manner.

According to another embodiment, a method includes linearly reciprocating first and second moveable members relative to a support member. A sliding member is attached to the support member. A guide member is attached to the first moveable member and moveable relative to the sliding member. A drive apparatus, including a motor, that is constructed and arranged to drive the first and second moveable members in a linearly reciprocating manner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are not intended to be drawn to scale. In the drawings, each identical or nearly identical component that is illustrated in various figures is represented by a like numeral. For purposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in every drawing. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a surface treatment appliance in accordance with an aspect of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the top side of a support member;

FIGS. 3A-3B are perspective views of the bottom side of the support member shown in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the top, internally facing side of a moveable member.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Surface treatment appliances, such as cleaning appliances which include reciprocating cleaning heads, are used to clean and treat floors and other surfaces in the home, office, and so on.

Provided herein are embodiments where a surface treatment appliance includes moveable members that are driven by a slide crank mechanism. The moveable members, which are driven in linearly reciprocating motion, are attached to guide members such that there is relative movement between the guide members and a stationary support member that is part of an appliance head.

FIG. 1 shows a surface treatment appliance 2 according to one embodiment, the appliance including an elongated appliance body 4 and an appliance head 6, such as a cleaning head. The appliance head includes two moveable members 8 to which a surface treatment pad arrangement 10 is removably attachable by an attachment side 12. The moveable members 8 may be used to provide reciprocating motion, and in some embodiments, the moveable members may move toward and away from one another. In some embodiments, the moveable members may move together in the same direction. The reciprocating motion produced by the appliance 2 shown may be a linearly reciprocating motion.

The appliance 2 also includes a liquid reservoir 13 on the appliance body 4 that communicates with a liquid applicator 15 on the appliance head 6 to apply a treatment or cleaning solution to a surface. Although the liquid applicator 15 is shown on only the front of the appliance head 6 in this embodiment, applicators 15 may be positioned on the sides of the appliance head 6 as well as the back of the appliance head 6 so as to allow multi-directional use of the treatment appliance 2. In some embodiments, the applicators 15 are positioned on the appliance body 4 or on an underside of the appliance head 6.

The drive apparatus for the moveable members will now be described. The appliance head includes a support member and moveable members. The support member and moveable members move relative to one another. The support member has two sides—a top side and a bottom side. The drive apparatus may be mounted on the support member and may include a motor and a slider crank mechanism, each of which will be discussed in turn.

As shown in FIG. 2, the drive apparatus includes a motor 22 which powers the drive apparatus. The motor 22 drives a motor gear (not shown, hidden under motor 22) that is connected to a base gear 23 via a transmission belt 26. First drive gear 24 is fixed to base gear 23, and thus rotation of base gear 23 by the motor 22 and motor gear causes rotation of the first drive gear 24. First drive gear 24 is connected to second drive gear 25 via a second transmission belt 27. Thus, rotation of first drive gear 24 causes second drive gear 25 to rotate as well. Each of the drive gears 24, 25 drives a moveable member, as will be described below in detail.

It should be appreciated that power may be transmitted from motor 22 to drive gears 24, 25 in any suitable manner, and is not limited to the gear and belt system shown in FIG. 2. For example, transmission systems such as a planetary gear system, a step gear system, worm gears, beveled gears, spur gears or any other suitable system may be used. In some embodiments, drive gears 24, 25 may each be driven directly or indirectly by their own individual motors.

FIGS. 3A-3B, which depict the bottom side of support member 20, show the externally facing bottom side of a moveable member 8 mounted to support member 20. During operation of the appliance to treat a surface, the bottom side of moveable member 8 faces downwardly toward the surface to be treated. In some embodiments, the bottom side of the moveable member may attach to a cleaning pad or other suitable surface treating implement such as a carpet scrubber or sandpaper. In FIGS. 3A-3B, one of the moveable members is removed to show the slider crank mechanism beneath. Each moveable member may be driven by a slider crank mechanism. The slider crank mechanism includes a crank 30, a connecting rod 32, and a slider 34. Crank 30 is driven by the first drive gear 24 located on the top side of support member 20, discussed previously and shown in FIG. 2. Each crank is driven by its own drive gear, such that drive gear 24 drives one crank, and drive gear 25 drives the other crank. Rotation of drive gear 24 causes crank 30 to rotate in place. The slider crank mechanism translates rotation of the drive gears into linear translation of the moveable members 8.

The bottom side of support member 20 also includes sliding members 50 and a guide member 40. Guide members 40 and sliding members 50 are arranged to move relative to one another. Sliding member 50 may be a rod or hollow shaft which travels within an inner channel of guide member 40, permitting sliding member 50 and guide member 40 to slide relative to one another. Sliding member 50 is fixed relative to the support member 20, while guide member 40 is moveable relative to the support member 20. Each guide member 40 may be attached to a bracket 42. Bracket 42 may attach to guide member 40 via an interference fit, one or more fasteners, an adhesive, or in any other suitable manner, as this aspect is not limited in this regard. The slider 34 of the slider crank mechanism cooperates with the guide members 40 to drive the moveable members 8 in a linearly reciprocating manner, as will be explained below.

FIG. 4 depicts a top, internally facing side of moveable member 8. During operation of the appliance to treat a surface, the top side of moveable member faces away from the surface to be treated. As shown in FIG. 4, the top side of moveable member 8 may include recesses 60 that receive the guide members 40 of the support member 20. Guide members 40 may attach to the recesses 60 via an interference fit between the guide members 40 and the recesses 60. Alternatively or in addition, the brackets 42 may fix guide members 40 to the moveable member 8 by attachment of the brackets to the moveable member 8 via holes 62. A threaded fastener such as a screw or bolt may pass through the bracket 42 and the holes 62 and attach the bracket 42 to the moveable member 8. The top side of moveable member 8 may also include a slider holder 64 which may receive the slider 34 of the support member 20. The slider holder 64 may be specially shaped to receive the slider 34. For example, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3-4, the slider 34 may have a “T” shape, and slider holder 64 may have a T-shaped recess to receive the slider 34. Slider 34 may attach to the slider holder 64 via one or more fasteners. Alternatively or in addition, slider 34 may attach to the slider holder 64 via an interference fit, an interlocking latch, an adhesive, or other suitable means, as this aspect is not limited in this regard.

Because moveable member 8 is attached to guide members 40, which are limited to linear movement relative to sliding members 50, moveable member 8 is constrained to linear movement in the direction of the sliding members 50 as well. The slide crank mechanism that includes crank 30, connecting rod 32, and slider 34 work to convert rotary motion of the drive gears 24, 25 to reciprocating motion of the moveable member 8. Rotation of drive gear 24 by the motor 22 causes the crank 30 to rotate in place. The first end of the connecting rod, which is connected to the crank 30, orbits around the crank 30 in a circle as the crank 30 turns. However, the second end of the connecting rod, which is attached to the slider, is limited to linear movement because slider 34 and moveable member 8 are constrained to linear movement in the direction of sliding members 50. Thus, because the first end of the connecting rod is forced to orbit in a circle and the second end of the connecting rod is forced to move along a linear direction, as crank 30 rotates, connecting arm 32 pushes slider 34 linearly back and forth. Moveable member 8, which is attached to slider 34, is thereby driven in a reciprocating motion. The same slide crank mechanism may used to reciprocate both moveable members 8. In some cases, the moveable members 8 may be driven to linearly reciprocate in opposite directions relative to one another.

The above described appliance drive apparatus may be used for any treatment of a surface, including, but not limited to, cleaning, sanding, or refinishing, as the invention is not necessarily so limited.

Various pad arrangements may be used with the appliance disclosed herein, including pad arrangements disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 13/783,211 filed Mar. 1, 2013 and entitled “SURFACE TREATMENT PAD ARRANGEMENT.” For example, a pad with shag material, olefin, glide portions (e.g. taffeta material), terry knit cloth, any combination thereof, or any other suitable pad material may be used. In some embodiments, two pads may be connected, or, two unconnected pads may be used in some embodiments.

The above described components may be made with various materials, as the invention is not necessarily so limited.

The above aspects may be employed in any suitable combination, as the present invention is not limited in this respect. Additionally, any or all of the above aspects may be employed in a surface treatment appliance; however, the present invention is not limited in this respect, as the above aspects may be employed in other appliances that use reciprocating motion.

Having thus described several aspects of at least one embodiment of this invention, it is to be appreciated that various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure, and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are by way of example only. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A surface treatment apparatus, comprising: an appliance head including a support member; first and second moveable members that move relative to the support member; a sliding member attached to the support member; a guide member attached to the first moveable member, the guide member being fixed to the first moveable member and moveable relative to the sliding member; and a drive apparatus, including a motor, that is constructed and arranged to drive the first and second moveable members in a linearly reciprocating manner.
 2. The surface treatment apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sliding member passes through a channel of the guide member.
 3. The surface treatment apparatus of claim 1, wherein the drive apparatus further comprises a crank, a connecting rod, and a slider, the slider being attached to the moveable member.
 4. The surface treatment apparatus of claim 1, wherein the drive apparatus further comprises a crank slide mechanism.
 5. The surface treatment apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a reservoir for holding liquid and a liquid applicator.
 6. The surface treatment apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a pad attached to each of the moveable members.
 7. The surface treatment apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first moveable member is configured to attach to a cleaning pad.
 8. The surface treatment apparatus of claim 1, wherein the drive apparatus drives the first and second members in opposite directions to one another.
 9. A method, comprising: linearly reciprocating first and second moveable members relative to a support member, wherein: a sliding member is attached to the support member; a guide member is attached to the first moveable member and moveable relative to the sliding member; and a drive apparatus, including a motor, that is constructed and arranged to drive the first and second moveable members in a linearly reciprocating manner.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the drive apparatus drives the first and second members in opposite directions. 